Purple Columbine
Quotes Gallery Pre-Evolved Form File:stand 122902.png Evolved Form }} Pre-Evolved Form File:stand 122902 M.png Evolved Form }} Pre-Evolved Form File:122901 evo ES.png Evolved Form }} Columbine's dove.png|アルルカン / Arurukan ("Harlequin") Miscellaneous * She is accompanied by a hat-wearing dove to which she refers as アルルカン / Arurukan ("Harlequin" in English) and a mysterious lion. ** Characters of a Clown and Harlequin were often paired together in a pantomime slapstick theatrical genre known as Harlequinade. * Columbine, aside from being a common name of a genus Aquilegia, can used as adjective when describing doves and pigeons of family Columbidae. ** Aquilegia flowers look like 5 doves clustered together when inverted. ** There's also an Italian word "colomba" which means "dove", though Columbine is apparently based on Latin "columbinus" which bears the same meaning. Botanical Origin Genus Aquilegia, called in Japan オダマキ or アキレギア / アクイレギア, contains about 60-70 perennial plants which can easily withstand unfriendly growing conditions. The genus is commonly called Granny's Bonnet or コランバイン / Columbine . Aquilegia flowers have five sepals, five petals and five pistils. Petals posses spike-like, hollow outgrowths of tissue that contain nectar which is mainly consumed by long-beaked birds such as hummingbirds. The shape of these petals, which is said resemble eagle's claws, is source of genus name which derives from the Latin word for eagle (aquila). Another common name it posses thanks to its petals is Lion's Herb (ライオンソウ in Japan) as the petals are said to look like lion's teeth. Flowers of various Columbine species can be safely consumed in small quantities but the plant's seeds and roots are poisonous. They contain cardiogenic toxins and, if consumed, may cause fatal poisoning. Plants in genera Actaea and Aconitum are related to this genus and they also produce the same toxins. Aquilegia buergeriana and Aquilegia flabellata are closely related species, both of which are native to Japan. Aquilegia buergeriana is dark purple / brown and yellow in color while Aquilegia flabellata is also purple but lighter in shade, slightly blue-ish, with petals that are partially creamy-white and look quite similar to flowers in Purple Columbine's portraits. Above mentioned, Korea and Japan native, Aquilegia flabellata is commonly called Fan Columbine or Dwarf Columbine. Its variant pumila is sometimes called Aquilegia japonica and is then treated as separate species. Flabellata in species' name comes from Latin word "flābellātus" and stands for "fan-shaped" while variant's name pumila derives from Latin "pūmilus" and means "small". It can grow to 20–30 cm (8–12 in) as opposed to average Columbine's 38-50 cm (15 to 20 in) . Odamaki / 苧環 refers to the a thread woven into a ball or ring. In order to make the next type of thread usable, the middle is left empty so that it can be unwoven easily. By contrast, the genus Columbine is オダマキ / odamaki. It gets its name because its flower's shape is similar to the ring of thread used by weavers. As such, Columbine (odamaki) cannot be used in weaving as a ring of thread (odamaki). 苧環 / オダマキ / odamaki refers to both of these usages, whereas オダマキ属 is specifically for the genus Columbine (side note: 属 means genus). References #Purple Columbine's JP wiki page #Aquilegia on Wikipedia #Aquilegia on (Japanese) Wikipedia #Picture source #Aquilegia flabellata on (Japanese) Wikipedia #Aquilegia flabellata on Wikipedia #Picture source #Picture source #Odamaki on (Japanese) Wikipedia